Von Palma del Rio nach Brenes, Tag 35

Monday, 21.8.2023, Day 35

Today we started early again to avoid the heat. It's already over 30° here from 11:00 am. So we sat on our bikes at 7:20 am and started riding, it was still dark outside. It was the first time we rode with lights. Shortly after, we were able to enjoy the wonderful sunrise over Andalusia. And at 9:00 am, we had already completed half of our daily distance (30 km). Shortly after that, we had another flat tire, again caused by a tiny thorn. We suspect that the thorns have an easier time now that the tire profile has worn down a bit after 1700 km. At least we have already used up three of our four spare tubes in a shorter period of time. It's probably wise to buy some spare materials at Decathlon in Seville. Maybe even new tires with a high MTB profile.

The highlights of today's stage: the already mentioned wonderful sunrise, kilometers of rides through olive and fruit plantations, and we even saw cotton fields (see photos), and sheep crossing the road because their job was to graze on the roadside. We also briefly spoke with the shepherd, who could obviously understand us quite well, but we could hardly understand him, especially since Andalusians can't open their mouths (and he didn't even have any teeth).

Today, even with two coffee breaks and a flat tire, we arrived at our destination, Brenes, a little after 11:00 am (we were really fast, pedaling hard, our legs are definitely not our problem), and settled into our vacation rental and went grocery shopping. Which is also good, because soon it will be over 40° here, probably 44° again this afternoon, so we won't leave the vacation rental for the rest of the day, especially since this town doesn't have much to offer, but the vacation rental has air conditioning.

Today, we completed the 5th week, cycled over 1700 km in just over 90 hours. Only 150 km left to the ferry in Huelva. 

Tomorrow we will ride a short distance to Seville and we will probably enjoy this very beautiful city for almost two days.